Life is pain.
Life is nothing but sorrow.
Life is unfair.
Life is cruel.
Life is confusion.
Life is good.
Life is precisely good.
Life is only about winners.
Life is truly being born.
Life is peace.
All of these voices echoed throughout the mortal world.
As their voices reached the Fate Building, at the center of a clear glass floor, someone sat hidden beneath layers of chains.
His entire body was wrapped in bandages and bound tightly by chains.
The strange person slowly raised his head, but the chains strained and forced it back down.
The glass floor suddenly shuddered.
A black gate opened, revealing a blinding light.
Two young boys appeared and fell forward as they slid across the floor.
It was Kong Tian and Pristine.
Both of them were bleeding everywhere.
Pristine raised his eyes and stared ahead.
"Who the heck are you?"
The figure covered in bandages finally stood up.
He looked down at them and stared silently.
Then he spoke.
"Even if the needle pierces the strings, tears everything inside, and kills the person… I, Yao Ming, would still dodge the needle and refuse to die. The place where I was born was never controlled by fate
Suddenly—
Chains appeared above the clouds.
A voice transmitted from above.
"Calm down, Yao Ming. I am only one soul fragment of one of the Nine Rulers. I am quite foolish and have only just reached above the Peak Artist Apex rank. I am merely a spirit questioning life."
Yao Mingyin snorted.
"And you clearly lack strength. You are above the mortal world ranks, yet you are still a fool questioning reality. And you call yourself one of the Nine Rulers? You are just a spirit."
The chains hanging in the air suddenly rang out as each one extended downward toward the pagoda.
The voice continued.
"Do not take it too seriously. I was simply thinking too highly of myself."
But Yao Mingyin snorted again.
"Clearly, you are a fool among fools…"
The voice did not sound angry.
"Ahahaha… relax, boy. Take more of my chains. They are hindering you from becoming Peak Artist Stage Three."
Suddenly, the chains shot forward and broke through the gate, wrapping around Yao Ying as he fell down, bound tightly.
But he stood up again.
The hall froze.
"What the heck?!"
A faint light began to glow beneath his bandages as ripples spread outward.
"To think that I cultivated for only two months and became a Peak Artist… insane."
Suddenly, the chains shattered.
Pristine and Kong Tian froze.
A massive shadow hand appeared above them and slammed down, gripping both of them.
Each of them was squeezed tightly by the shadow hand.
Kong Tian's breathing became rough.
"Don't tell me—"
"Yes… he is taking our souls."
The shadow hand reached into their chests like living darkness. It entered their hearts and pulled out a spirit from each of them — naked, translucent, like holograms.
The shadow hand withdrew, holding their souls.
Kong Tian shouted in terror.
Pristine remained unmoving.
"This Soul Core Formation… it is the Shadow Path. It is forbidden in the Soul Realm. The spells are forbidden, and the killer moves from the artifacts are also forbidden."
"What is a killer move?" Kong Tian asked weakly.
"A killer move is a final stand technique. The Soul Realm forges an artifact for each person to use as their last trump card."
Yao Ming hid within a veil of shadows.
Suddenly, a massive blue flower-shaped hand appeared, stretching upward.
The chains connected to the heavens vanished as the hand pointed toward the sky. Flowers blossomed along the chains before they shattered, and ripples spread beneath the clouds.
Then a warm light appeared.
A flaming head formed in the air — carved from the face of a handsome man. Its eyes were gone. Its mouth was gone. Only its hair burned like living fire.
To think this was one of the Nine Rulers' spirits.
Without hesitation, Yao Ming lunged forward. His body remained hidden within the veil of shadow as he grabbed the flaming head.
Flames surged into his veins and entered his consciousness.
In that instant—
He could see through the flames.
He could hear what the flames heard.
He could speak through the flaming head.
His awareness expanded outward.
He saw a little girl inside a treehouse. His consciousness drifted around the treehouse and across the surrounding field.
"It seems this spirit was created from an artifact capable of projecting its senses forward. Its Soul Core Formation is divided into two paths. The other half must possess another artifact that allows it to send its consciousness outward."
He tightened his grip on the flaming head.
"To think you claim to be above Peak Artist Apex… what a joke."
The veil of shadows suddenly stilled.
Golden blood began dripping from the severed neck of the flaming head.
"Ah… so your head was cut off. That explains it. No wonder you are weak."
Yao Ming glanced down at his own body.
"It seems I am at Peak Artist Stage Four. I have reached my limit. Advancing to Stage Five would require two years of unbearable pain."
He clenched his fist.
Then he carried the flaming head toward the pagoda and looked down upon it.
The flaming head suddenly shouted, even without a mouth.
"You will regret this, Yao Ming! After I help you reclaim your father's head, you—"
It abruptly fell silent.
Behind the veil of shadows, Yao Ming thought calmly:
"It seems it cannot speak after being removed from the clouds where it drew its power."
The jade gate slammed shut, and the hall turned dark.
Only the flaming head continued to glow, casting flickering light across the glass floor.
Above, the cloud that once sustained it was suddenly pulled into the jade gate. It descended into the pagoda and drifted toward the flaming head, circling it slowly.
Then, from within the veil of shadows, a cold, dark-blue voice spoke.
"You clearly do not learn your lesson."
A massive shadow hand descended and struck the flaming head.
Its scalp burst open.
The flaming head screamed as cracks spread across its surface.
The shadow hand tightened, crushing its face.
Slowly, Yao Ming's face emerged from the veil of shadows.
The flaming spirit froze.
Golden blood-tears streamed down its cheeks.
"What… are you?"
The flaming head trembled violently.
"Ahhh! What is this monster?! What is this vile creature?!"
Its voice shook with terror.
"Help me!"
The world deserves to be put to death.
Only the righteous deserve to win in the end — the ones with the highest kill count.
The flaming head stared at the veil of shadows.
"You are clearly a fool. Who are you to decide the worth of people's lives?"
The decaying flower-shaped hand slowly pointed downward.
"Aren't you the one who said people must resign themselves to their fate?"
"Tsk."
The flaming head sneered.
"You are nothing but a bloodthirsty bastard."
The veil of shadows stopped moving.
Then someone stepped forward.
Ahead of them, the face of the culprit could finally be seen.
It was beyond terrible — ugly, yet terrifyingly handsome.
His face was covered with deep, haunting eyes of different shapes, each surrounded by dark blood circles.
His hair was cold white, stained with blood.
The left side of his face resembled that of a young man — his eyes cold, unmoving, yet beautiful.
The hair on that side was burned and rotten.
The right side of his face was different — filled with many old, ugly, yet strangely beautiful eyes, all opened at once.
He stared downward with a cold expression.
"If you think you are going to kill me, then you have never witnessed me killing a Peak Artist Stage Five while I was only at Sage Artist Stage Five."
The flaming head froze.
Its eyes widened so much that blood began pouring from them.
"How?!"
Yao Ming threw the head behind him.
It rolled through the air, and as it spun, it saw a vast inner sanctuary — a sacred honden filled with hidden holy objects, such as the Murrow Sword and radiant jewels.
It resembled a small, contained world.
The head crashed down and rolled across the floor.
Yao Ming held the spirits of Pristine and Kong Tian in his grasp.
Behind him stood a massive furnace placed within a giant cauldron.
He walked toward it.
Without hesitation, he threw the two spirits into the furnace.
Then he lifted the flaming head.
The split soul of the Nine Rulers shouted,
"What are you trying to do?!"
Yao Ming muttered only five words:
"Preparing for Renewal's return."
Inside the flames, Pristine and Kong Tian remained unmoving, but their eyes widened in shock.
"Renewal's return?!"
Yao Ming glanced back at the spirit, who showed no sign of suffering.
"Fate Building exists for a reason, fool. It allows me to see fragments of the future. I can alter that reality by changing its course — but it requires payment. Souls like yours."
His voice grew colder.
"Renewal will cause the collapse of the Region Continent. Why do you think the people are fleeing? Why would they hide the truth?"
Pristine looked down, thinking deeply.
"So… they were running away from the Region Continent. But why would they hide it?"
Then his eyes widened.
"Don't tell me…"
Yao Ming spoke four words:
"Because the Supreme Elder killed countless people, preparing for his return."
Pristine's expression turned grim.
"No wonder he carried so many corpses…"
"He was naturally gifted with blood."
Yao Ming looked forward.
"And he will awaken very soon."
His voice dropped.
"And that time is today."
"I cannot miss the birth of a new era."
"The Golden Era has begun."
Suddenly—
In a hidden valley, surrounded by towering mountains, a large village stood with stone walls. At its center was an inner city, carefully built from pebbles.
In the middle of the city, a massive hole trembled violently.
Countless corpses filled the pit.
All had been killed by the Supreme Elder.
Some corpses were from the contest leading to Awaken Mountain.
Others came from the Immortal Continent.
And the rest—
From the Empire Continent.
Slowly, the dead bodies began falling deeper into the pit, descending toward three colossal temples.
Inside the central temple, a mummified body stood silently.
Rivers of blood from scattered corpses flowed into the temple, reaching the floor and creeping toward the mummified figure.
Behind the body floated a massive heart, veins bulging grotesquely.
Thick black cables extended from the heart and connected into the mummified body. Blood flowed through them, fueling the corpse with life.
In front of the three temples, three Immortals knelt.
"Lord Rebekah," they said, bowing. "We offer our final Immortal bodies so that you may refine the Heart of Peak Artist Apex Rank. May this deed allow us to survive the World Tribulation."
The mummified body slowly moved.
The massive heart floated before him, and he stretched his hand forward.
Thousands of Immortal bodies were drained dry, their blood fully absorbed into the mummified figure.
The mummified man lifted his hand and spoke, his voice shaking the ground.
"I have finally reformed the Heart of the Dead Artifact."
The bandages covering his body fell away.
A sea of blood burst outward, flooding and destroying the temple from the inside.
The three Immortals did not retreat.
The blood surged toward them.
One by one, they were swallowed by the crimson tide.
A voice echoed from the temple:
"I am free… Mortal Ruler."
Two bloody hands emerged, grabbing the Immortal bodies.
No one screamed; they only smiled.
Their bodies withered as blood poured from their noses. Flesh dried, leaving only skeletons.
From the sea of blood emerged a young man.
His skin was pale, like a ghost. His eyes were deep shadows, like chasms.
He wore a black haori-style robe, loose at the front. Beneath it, a light-colored kimono wrapped across his chest, secured with a belt. Wide, pleated hakama pants reached down to his bare feet.
He stood atop the sea of blood.
His hair was pure red.
Behind him floated the massive heart.
He spread his arms wide.
"Mortal Ruler… and Shibai… soon we will be together again as a family."
Suddenly—
He unleashed a torrent of blood into the sky.
The heavens erupted in a massive explosion.
Far from Renewal—
A towering mountain pierced the sky.
Mingyin stood among the Immortals before it.
Future Overlord, Woman of Peace, Won Shong Tin, and Magman stood at the front.
Mingyin stayed behind the crowd, watching the sky silently.
He sent his clone forward—the one with the handsome face—to blend in with the others.
The real Mingyin remained frozen, deep in thought.
The mountain's soul energy is immense. It could raise my soul force to ten… maybe eleven.
But the other Immortals will never allow that. After the fifth round, the sixth round becomes everyone for themselves.
I must claim the Land Spirit. I must seize the artifacts and awaken. I cannot afford kindness—if I am merciful, I will die. Sometimes, I must be ruthless to survive.
And Future Overlord and Woman of Peace will soon discover that I am mortal… I have to succeed.
Six Treasure Cores appeared, racing toward the mountain, preparing to open the gate.
Suddenly—
An explosion ripped through the sky.
Trees were sent flying as the ground shook violently.
The crowd looked upward, shocked.
"What is happening?!"
"Why is the ground shaking?!"
"I thought we still had two weeks before the Region Continent collapsed!"
Fear spread across the assembly.
Woman of Peace pointed to the sky.
"Look!"
Future Overlord froze, excitement flashing in his eyes.
Grandfather…
Far away, the leader of the Zhou Lian Sect looked up.
Behind him stood three Immortals.
"You're saying Renewal has awakened?"
The two Immortals nodded.
The sect leader's heart skipped a beat.
Today was meant for preparation of the awakening ceremony.
To think that calamity itself would arrive today.
Renewal…
He was terrifying.
Not inherently evil—only shaped by the destruction of his village.
But the prophecy had spoken:
A legend with blood power would attempt to bring back the Mortal Ruler.
The sect leader glared at the Immortals.
"Who told you to awaken someone mentioned in the prophecy?!"
The two Immortals lowered their heads.
Behind them, a short woman stepped forward.
"Allow me to explain, Supreme Elder. If Rebekah feels threatened and comes for bloodshed, we will need your help—and your men."
The sect leader's stare burned into her.
"What nonsense is this? Aren't you the ones who wanted him awakened?"
"He is one of the reasons we can survive the World Tribulation and gain the greatest benefit!" she said, breathing heavily.
Before the sect leader could respond—
The entire sky exploded.
A deafening sonic boom shook the heavens.
In the clouds, a torrent of crimson water formed into words:
"Mortal Ruler… I am back."
He